BYB OSCON 2012 Presentation

BYB OSCON 2012 Presentation.org

Backyard Brains

Neuroscience For Everyone!

Timothy Marzullo & Gregory Gage (Founders)

The Challenge

Can you listen to neurons for under $100?

The Spikerbox

World’s first consumer-grade neural amplifier

Schematics, parts list, and lessons are CC-BY-NC

99$

DIY Kit for 49$

Ok, cool. But who wants to hear cockroach brains?

Neuroscience is kind of a big deal.

Multidisciplinary field (biology, chemistry, engineering, math, and physics)

Teaching Neuroscience furthers STEM ^1

better STEM education means

better scientists, engineers…

US National Academies worried about a decline in STEM education ^2

Y U NO Neuro?!?!!1!!one!

Was expensive

Had high barrier of entry in educator training

Was allegedly “hard”

The competition.

NEX NeuroExplorer

Biograph Infiniti

What about free or open source?! It’s gotta be out there right?

Klusters

Matlab

Spikehound

We work on your phone.

Cheap, accessible, open gear has a huge potential to become a disruptive innovation ^3.

What’s in a brain?

A brain is made of neurons

Neurons have an axon which leads to the next neuron

Neurons communicate with other cells via synapse

Electricity travels down the axon to trigger chemical reaction

Chemical reaction crosses synapse, received by dendrite

Next neuron continues transmission

Ok kids, quiz is next week.

Open Source

Any FOSS License

Source code online

Teach how the software works

Add features to demonstrate new experiments

Open Hardware

Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

CAD, Gerber, BoM all available

Teach specifically what the equipment does

Extend lesson plans to cover electronics

Swap out parts for additional experiments

Arduino, RepRap, Adafruit, BeagleBoard, MakerBot, Maker Shed…

Open lesson plans

Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Can redistribute lessons to students

Can modify lessons to fit their classroom

No additional cost based on student load

Our content is still ours

Already successful: OCW, MIT+K12, edX, Khan Academy, Stanford…

Teaching students on closed systems is training them to use products not learning a technology

All Hands Active

America’s Friendliest Hackerspace

Non-traditional education outlet

BYB Base of operations

What’s next?

“The Searcher” Micromanipulator

Moves really tiny electrodes

For use in really tiny brains

We use it with optogenetic fly larva experiments

Comparable used equipment: ~$500

The Roboroach

Remote-control a cockroach

World’s first commercially available cyborg

Demonstrates Neuroprosthetics

$99 during beta

Holy crap that’s awesome! How can I help?!

Submit your experiences, suggestions, complaints, insults: http://backyardbrains.com

Tell me how I broke our code :)http://github.com/backyardbrains

Tweet me: @nathandotz

Go out and teach someone something wicked sweet.

Sources

1. Chang K (2009) White House Pushes Science and Math Education. New York Times p. A13 Print Edition 11/22/2009.
2. National Research Council (2011) A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Washington, DC: The National Academy Press. 320 p.
3. National Research Council (2007) “What Actions Should America Take in Science and Engineering Research to Remain Prosperous in the 21st Century?” Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
4. Christensen, C. M., M. B. Horn, et al. (2008). Disrupting class : how disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns. New York, McGraw-Hill.
5. Marzullo TC, Gage GJ (2012) The SpikerBox: A Low Cost, Open-Source BioAmplifier for Increasing Public Participation in Neuroscience Inquiry. PLoS ONE 7(3) e30837. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030837. PMC Journal - In Process.